Some telecommunication providers offer services to residents of controlled-environment facilities. Examples of controlled-environment facilities include prisons, police departments, hospitals, hospices, dorms, and camps, among others. In order to control, monitor, or restrict telephone usage among its residents, a controlled-environment facility may employ a call processing system.
In a typical call processing system, a personal identification number (PIN) authorization mechanism may request that a resident provide a PIN before placing or receiving a call. After the resident enters his or her PIN, the system determines the resident's identity and decides whether to allow him or her to operate a telephone. The call processing system may then apply a set of calling restrictions or rules associated with that resident. For example, some restrictions may prevent the resident from calling specific non-resident parties. Alternatively, other restrictions may only allow the resident to call specific parties and/or may establish a maximum number of calls that can be made or received by that resident at that time. Yet other restrictions may include preventing the resident from initiating a three-way call, taking part in a conference call, or the like.
An alternative to PIN-based systems involves the use of biometrics. The term “biometrics” refers to technologies that measure and analyze human characteristics for authentication purposes. A biometrics-based call processing system may acquire a resident's biometric sample before allowing the resident to place or receive a call. The system may use the biometric sample to determine the resident's identity, and it may then grant access to a telephone while applying a set of rules or restrictions associated with the resident.
The inventor hereof has discovered a number of problems with both PIN-based and biometric-based authorization mechanisms. Particularly, a problem unique to controlled-environment facilities such as prisons is that inmates frequently attempt to circumvent identity verification procedures. For example, inmates may share, trade, buy, and sell PINs, which may then be used by any person in possession thereof. An inmate having another's PIN may gain access to the system while avoiding particular call restrictions that would otherwise be applied to his or her calls. Moreover, an inmate may have his or her biometric feature scanned by a biometric authorization mechanism and, upon successful completion of this initial authentication procedure, he or she may hand the phone to another inmate who actually conducts the call. Consequently, authorities seldom know with certainty which inmate actually participated through the entire course of a phone call, despite the presence of a PIN and/or biometric identity verification procedure.
The inventor hereof has also identified a need to monitor and record the identity of a person who is actually participating in a telephone call, even if that person's identity is not susceptible to verification prior to, or during the ongoing call. For instance, when a crime suspect is arrested, he or she has the right to make a phone call. During this first phone call, the suspect may call a friend or a co-conspirator to provide instructions regarding a crime in which the suspect is involved. Accordingly, it would be useful to law enforcement agencies to have the ability to record the identity of that suspect while knowing with certainty that it was he or she who actually conducted the entire telephone conversation, even though his or her identity may only be ultimately verified or matched at a later time.